CIR: Nuestra Familia, Our Family

Nuestra Familia airing on PBS

CIR Staff — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:39:55 -0700

Nuestra Familia, Our Family, CIR's award-winning documentary about Latino gang wars, is being rebroadcast on PBS stations nationwide in September and October. Check local listings on the Voces.tv website. This ground-breaking documentary goes inside one of California’s most violent and organized gangs. It follows a father's painful struggle as he turns his own criminal life around, then sees his son become deeply involved with the Nuestra Familia prison gang. >> Learn more about Nuestra Familia, Our Family. >> Watch the trailer:

Nuestra Familia wins at Chicano Film Festival

CIR Staff — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:28:44 -0800

Nuestra Familia, Our Family, co-produced by CIR documentaries director Oriana Zill de Granados and Monterey Herald reporter Julie Reynolds, won the best documentary award at the first Chicano Film Festival in Mexico City. The festival showcased more than 50 contemporary and classic films about Mexican Americans in the United States and was held at the World Trade Center in Mexico City. >> Watch the trailer of Nuestra Familia, Our Family.

Gang Prevention and Resources

Carrie Ching — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:24:09 -0700

News Articles Ongoing coverage of Operation Black Widow and Salinas gangs by CIR associates Additional News Articles Lizard is a Rat By Justin Berton | East Bay Express | October 20, 2004 Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia run a criminal empire from inside state prison. Then he helped the FBI take the gang down. Sir Dyno Deals with ... the Prosecution By Justin Berton | East Bay Express | December 24, 2003 Gangsta rapper pleads guilty to lesser drug charge in exchange for lighter sentence on more serious racketeering charges he faced. Sir Dyno's Deal with the Devil By Justin Berton | East Bay Express | October 1, 2003 Rapper David Rocha thought a norteño gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. An End to the Cycle By Virginia Hennessey | Monterey County Herald | November 23, 2003 Convicted killer Armando Tizok Frias is determined to undo his family's gang ties. Black Widow’s Web By Justin Berton | Maxim | November 2003 Operation Black Widow attempted to stop one of America’s most ruthless gangs from ruling the streets from behind bars. But how do you defeat a criminal enterprise that thrives on prison itself? Blood In, Blood Out By Justin Berton | Metro | November 29, 2001 The story behind the murder of NF defector Robert "Brown Bob" Viramontes Special Report: Operation Black Widow Santa Rosa Press Democrat | April 21-27, 2001 A week-long series announcing indictments in Operation Black Widow, with photos, detailed information on NF operations out of Pelican Bay, and law enforcement's perspective on the case. For Communities and Families Salinas Barrios Unidos Gangsandkids.com SafeState: Gangs and Youth Violence Gangs: A Community Response [PDF] For Current and Former Gang Members Tookie Williams / Redemption GangStyle.com: Hip, Christian anti-gang site Crown of Life Comics: Chicano Anti-Gang Comic Book For and About Law Enforcement KnowGangs Salinas Police Department National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations (NAGIA) California Gang Investigator's Association International Latino Gang Investigator's Association

Nuestra Familia wins NAHJ award

CIR Staff — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:31:46 -0700

Congratulations to Oriana Zill de Granados, Julia Reynolds, and George Sanchez for their work on Nuestra Familia, Our Family, which just won the 2007 Television-Documentary award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Nuestra Familia, Our Family is also airing on PBS stations across the country this month. To check your local listings: 1) Visit the website for Voces, a PBS show about Latino culture, 2) click on "Series Schedule" to find the link to your local PBS affiliate, and 3) search their website for "Voces" to find the air date and time in your area.

Nuestra Familia wins top IRE award

CIR Staff — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:11:29 -0700

Nuestra Familia, Our Family won the top medal from the Investigative Reporters and Editors over the weekend at the award ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations to Oriana, Julie and George! Richard Prince blogged about the award in his Journal-isms column. [video:3262:full]

Prison Gangs Keep Tight Rein on Members

Carrie Ching — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:53:38 -0700

Supermax prisons are places of stark isolation, where some of the most dangerous convicts are housed. At Pelican Bay prison in California, the men in the Supermax are locked in windowless cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with almost no direct contact with other inmates or staff. Officials say most of them are members of prison gangs. Despite the isolation, gangs remain active at Pelican Bay. And once a prisoner is in a gang, it's tough to get out. It's also dangerous. Michael Montgomery of American RadioWorks reports that at Pelican Bay, gang members are made to choose between staying in lockdown or betraying their gang.

Nuestra Familia, Our Family: Trailer

Carrie Ching — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:03:23 -0700

Buy the Nuestra Familia, Our Family DVD online. To get an educator's edition of this film, please visit the Films Media Group website, call 800.257.5126, or email custserv@films.com.
More than three years of research and filming resulted in a groundbreaking documentary that goes inside one of California’s most violent and organized gangs. Nuestra Familia, Our Family features interviews in prison and on the streets with family members and gang members opening up about their lives, painting a haunting picture rarely seen by the public. The film tells the story of a father in a small California farm town who raised his son to be a gang member. It follows the father's painful struggle as he turns his own life around but then sees his son become deeply involved with the Nuestra Familia prison gang -- and unknowingly falling into the grip of an FBI informant. Nuestra Familia also tells the hidden history of the Norteño street gang and its links to the prison-based Nuestra Familia, which, ironically, was born out of the radical movements of the 1960s in the fields of California. Former NF members detail the rigidly organized structure of this prison gang and how its leaders are able to operate with impunity from the lockdown section of Pelican Bay, California's highest security prison. From there, NF leaders control the activities of thousands of Norteño gang members on the streets, and manage the systems for teaching recruits and collecting taxes from gang activity. This military-style organization keeps an eye on everything from who gets killed to how guns are distributed among street soldiers. As young Latinos cycle in and out of juvenile hall and prison, they are literally nurtured into a life of commitment to the NF -- a commitment that is enforced by blood. The film contains never-before-seen scenes of the Nuestra Famillia in action, footage of an FBI gang informant as he appears to approve a murder, and exclusive interviews with the young triggerman in that crime. Nuestra Familia brings home the sorrow of an entire community that has been devasted by the almost constant violence wrought by the NF on its once-quiet streets. Ultimately, the film is a powerful chronicle of families determined to bring an end to the terror of gangs before the next generation repeats the mistakes of their fathers. Nuestra Familia,Our Family is a presentation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and Latino Public Broadcasting. The film is produced by Oriana Zill de Granados and reported by Julia Reynolds and George B. Sanchez. Visit Nuestrafamiliaourfamily.org for more information.

Gangs Reach Out of Prison to Commit Crimes

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:37:49 -0800

In California's Pelican Bay State Prison, gang leaders are busy generating money for their operations and preparing parolees for a life of crime. CIR and Michael Montgomery teamed up for this report on the prison gangs that control crime on the outside from behind bars.

Locked Down: Gangs in the Supermax

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:37:49 -0800

Twenty years ago, a new kind of prison was taking America by storm. The supermax prison was designed to incapacitate dangerous criminals by locking them down in stark isolation, sometimes for years on end. So have the supermaxes lived up to their promise of stopping violent criminals?

Salinas Photo Journal

Julie Reynolds — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:36:44 -0700

Photojournalist Janjaap Dekker shows the unusual mix of gangs and everyday life in Salinas, California, with a reporter's diary by Julia Reynolds describing the first year on the beat.